One possibility would be to swap the living room and the dining room. Since the current living room is larger than the current dining room you could still keep some comfortable seating (couch and upholstered chairs?) against the front wall for a keeping room/dining concept. Then your new dining areas (kitchen and dining room) and living areas (living and drawing room) would have good flow between them, which would work well both for family and entertaining. You could also add some builtin bookshelves in the drawing room or new living room to create a library area to add another fun element to the living areas. These bookshelves could be against the long walls in the drawing room, around the window with a window seat in the living room (former dining room), or built to create some separation in the open area between the drawing room and living room/stair area. Your plan seems to show some sort of builtin there, but I'm not sure what it is.

I strongly second One Plan's idea about looking for another architect. If this one is not motivated, all the fame in the world is not going to help. An alternative approach to finding an architect is to find some good contractors who have built things you like. Ask them for architects' names. Make sure they work in your price range. In the meantime, you can find out from your local building department what the set back and height restrictions are. Are you required to build parking areas or garage space, what kind of airspace restrictions do you have for neighbors' views and sunlight, that kind of thing. Often this stuff is on city websites or handouts at the office.

Since the lot you describe is smaller than my open living area, I would suggest looking at some of the "shotgun" house plans around New Orleans,LA. I think you can build up and back and get an interesting home with a loft for space. It can be done, A porch with an entry to a narrow hall at the back might work best for you. Will you plan a courtyard (closed)? or what? What part of the country are you in? What are your local codes?

I have some suggestions if you are thinking budget friendly changes. Make a photo gallery with different size frames and arrange them parallel to the stairs, so you can enjoy each photo as you climb up. And for the area that will be on a level with your upper floor, try some pretty decal that will connect the photo gallery to upper level. And last, if you have budget add some beautiful hanging lights in the stairwell. Also think about repositioning your refrigerator.